Module 7.2

Practical Implementation: Multisensory and Tactile Strategies

By Marianna Karatsiori

Research confirms that blind students and students with visual impairments learn effectively through touch, hearing, and kinesthetic experiences. This micro-module focuses on the practical implementation of multisensory and tactile strategies in foreign language instruction, with particular attention to teaching spatial concepts and prepositions—areas that present unique challenges for visually impaired learners.

You will explore how Total Physical Response (TPR) strategies, specialized tactile materials, and assistive technologies can be integrated into language instruction to create truly accessible learning experiences. By the end of this module, you will have practical tools and techniques to implement immediately in your classroom.

By the end of this micro-module, you will be able to:

  1. Design language learning activities using multisensory approaches that incorporate tactile materials, auditory input, and kinesthetic movement to support vocabulary acquisition and concept development for visually impaired students.
  2. Apply Total Physical Response (TPR) strategies to teach spatial concepts and prepositions of place, understanding why these present particular challenges for blind learners and how body movement and real-life objects can bridge understanding.

The Multisensory Approach

Literature evidences that blind students learn effectively through touch. A multisensory approach involves using multiple senses—touch, hearing, and kinesthetic—to facilitate language learning. Key strategies include:

  • Tactile materials, manipulatives, and real-life objects to provide a tactile experience of vocabulary
  • Clear and descriptive verbal explanations of concepts, vocabulary, and grammar rules
  • Braille materials and instruction for learners who read Braille
  • Recordings, audio materials, and spoken language to support auditory learning

The Challenge of Spatial Concepts

English prepositions of place (in, on, under, behind, between, next to) and concepts of direction and map reading present significant challenges for blind and visually impaired learners. This difficulty arises not because of a language barrier, but because of gaps in general knowledge about spatial relations and their two-dimensional representation.

For blind learners, it is difficult to experience the position of outer objects and then understand their images on paper. Therefore, teaching must begin with real-life objects and body movement before progressing to symbolic representations.

Total Physical Response (TPR)

TPR is a language teaching method developed by Dr. James Asher that emphasizes the use of physical movement to reinforce language learning. For visually impaired students, TPR is particularly valuable because it:

  • Allows learners to physically experience space and orientation
  • Uses body language, gestures, and the sense of touch to explore the environment
  • Connects vocabulary and grammar concepts with movement
  • Creates memorable, embodied learning experiences

Specialized Tactile Materials

Professor Bob Marek and Hungry Fingers have developed specialized materials that help visually impaired children understand the relationship between reality and its representation. Key tools include:

  • Fleximan: A magnetic “stick figure” that can be adjusted to take different postures, serving as an intermediate stage between a three-dimensional object (human body) and its two-dimensional representation (a drawing)
  • Transfograph: A tool that helps children understand the concept of a drawing as a 2D representation of a 3D object through models of furniture and their corresponding tactile drawings
  • Shape Detective Series: Tactile booklets that take children from lines to geometric shapes, building foundational understanding
  • Getting Ready for Maps: Activities progressing from table-setting arrangements to floor plans and maps

The following practical example demonstrates how to implement multisensory and tactile strategies for teaching spatial concepts and prepositions. It is based on the best practice Touchable Spaces”, which was created by Professor Ewa Domagala-Zysk and Professor Marek. It is presented in detail at the D2.3 Report: Collection of Best Practices in EFL per Disability & CEFR Level p.36.

Activity: “Touchable Spaces”

CEFR Level: A1-A2

Duration: 90 minutes (may need repetition)

Purpose: To teach spatial relations, prepositions of place, and language for asking about and giving directions

Step 1: Real Objects and Situations (TPR)

Use real-life objects and Total Physical Response strategy to allow learners to experience space around them. Activities include:

  • Standing behind the student, next to the student
  • Allowing students to touch different objects on their left, right, in front, and behind them
  • Placing real objects on, under, between, and behind other objects
  • Using body language, gestures, and sense of touch to experience shapes, structures, materials, and surfaces

Step 2: Symbolic Representation (Tactile Materials)

Progress from physical experience to symbolic representation using specialized materials:

  • Fleximan: Students manipulate the magnetic figure to different postures, then trace the corresponding tactile drawing. This teaches “left” and “right” concepts—Fleximan’s left arm will be on the child’s left or right depending on whether Fleximan is facing the child.
  • Transfograph: Students explore 3D furniture models, then match them with their 2D tactile representations, learning vocabulary like “table,” “chair,” “bed,” “desk.”
  • Getting Ready for Maps: Students progress from arranging breakfast items to understanding floor plans, learning positional vocabulary in context.

Step 3: Language Practice

Students practice using prepositions in structured activities: describing object positions, giving and following directions, asking “Where is…?” questions, and using audio descriptions that describe spatial relations of objects.

UDL Alignment:

UDL Principle

Application in Activity

Representation

Tactile and audio elements represent spatial concepts; Fleximan provides a bridge between 3D objects and 2D drawings

Action & Expression

Students express understanding through verbal descriptions, hands-on arrangement of objects, and tactile overlays

Engagement

Interactive, hands-on design engages students through physical manipulation of materials and TPR activities

 

Watch the four short videos featuring Professor Marek from the University of Lublin (KUL). These videos demonstrate effective strategies for supporting visually impaired students in English language learning:

As you watch, focus on how tactile experience, language, and spatial understanding are gradually built.

 Reflection Questions

  1. Understanding learners’ perspectives
    How does Professor Marek help teachers recognise and reinterpret the learning challenges faced by blind students?

  2. From perception to representation
    What does the three-line bus drawing reveal about how blind students perceive, simplify, and represent visual concepts?
    How does this example change the way you think about students’ drawings or “errors”?
  3. Building spatial understanding
    Which strategies support blind learners when moving from two-dimensional representations to three-dimensional understanding?
    How are touch, movement, and language combined in this process?
  4. Teacher stance and pedagogical focus
    Why does Professor Marek argue that teachers should focus on creating learning opportunities rather than fixating on challenges?
    How does this perspective align with Universal Design for Learning (UDL)?

Practice-oriented reflection

Think about your own teaching practice:

  • When explaining abstract or visual concepts (e.g. perspective, position, movement), what concrete, tactile, or embodied strategies could you introduce?
  • If you were describing a video scene to a student who has never had sight, how would you structure your audio description to ensure it is precise, concrete, and meaningful?
  •  

After watching, reflect on your own practice: When explaining abstract concepts like ‘perspective’ or describing a video scene to a student who has never had sight, what specific techniques from Professor Marek’s approach could you apply? How would you ensure your audio descriptions are sufficiently concrete and detailed?

  1. Specialist Organisations & Teaching Materials
  • Hungry Fingers (www.hungryfingers.com)
    Developed by Professor Bob Marek, this initiative offers specialised tactile teaching materials, including:
    • Fleximan
    • Transfograph
    • Shape Detective series
      These resources are used for developing tactile literacy and spatial understanding.
  1. Key Academic Publications on Tactile Graphics & Visual Impairment
  • Coleman, M. J. & Rosen, M. J. (2018).
    Tactile Fluency Through Interactive Tactile Graphics Worksheets.
    American Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults, Future Reflections, Special Issue on Tactile Fluency (INNOVATIONS).
  • Marek, B. (1999).
    A Blind Child in an English Language Classroom.
    Network: A Journal for English Language Teacher Education, Vol. 2, No. 1. Omnibus & The British Council.
  • Marek, B. (2000).
    Mobility and daily living skills in an English language classroom.
    In Learning from Experience: Visions and Strategies for the New Century, ICEVI Conference, Cracow (9–13 July 2000).
    Available at:
    http://www.icevi-europe.org/cracow2000/proceedings/chapter05/05-08.doc
  • Marek, B. (2001).
    Before a blind child can read a map: First steps in tactile graphics.
    Available at:
    https://www.hungryfingers.com/public1.html
  • Marek, B. (2000).
    “Does a Stone Look the Way It Feels?” Introducing tactile graphics, spatial relations and visual concepts to congenitally blind children.
    Paper presented at the European ICEVI Conference, Cracow (9–13 July 2000).
    Available at:
    https://www.hungryfingers.com/public2.html
  • Marek, B. (2018).
    The Hungry Fingers Way to Tactile Graphics.
    American Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults, Future Reflections, Winter 2018 (Graphics and Art).
    Available at:
    https://nfb.org/sites/default/files/images/nfb/publications/fr/fr37/1/fr370106.htm
  1. Multimedia Resources
  1. Deaf-Blindness: Open-Access Book (Polish)
  • Świat osób głuchoniewidomych. Wyzwania współczesności
    Domagała-Zyśk, E., Wiącek, G., & Książek, M. (eds.) (2017).
    Lublin: Wydawnictwo Episteme, 263 pages.
    ISBN: 978-83-62495-97-9

🔹 The volume is open access, and includes:

    • A chapter by Professor Bob Marek, which can be translated into English or other languages.
    • A chapter by the author on a student with Usher syndrome, which may also be useful for reference or translation.
  1. Further Reading: Universal Design for Learning (UDL)
  • Domagała-Zyśk, E. (2019).
    Projektowanie uniwersalne w inkluzyjnej edukacji uczniów ze spektrum autyzmu. Strategie i rekomendacje.
    In A. Prokopiak (ed.), Osoby ze spektrum autyzmu w biegu życia.
    Lublin: Wydawnictwo UMCS, pp. 139–158. ISBN 978-83-227-9318-3.
  • Domagała-Zyśk, E. (2018).
    Dostosowanie lekcji języka angielskiego jako obcego do potrzeb uczniów z dysfunkcją słuchu w nauczaniu wczesnoszkolnym.
    Szkoła Specjalna, 1, 12–20.